Eastleigh will take their place in Hampshire Division 1 next season, but promotion was not achieved as they had wished as Ventnor beat them 18-5 on a blustery but glorious Island afternoon.

They were relieved to hear that New Milton & District, crowned champions by Eastleigh's slip, had beaten their remaining rivals Isle of Wight and given the Bishopstoke men the best alternative.

A disappointing scoreless first half, despite both sides having a score disallowed, opened out into an impressive showing from the hosts, who harried Eastleigh and gave them little to work from while scoring two well-taken tries themselves.

The first half, played with a gusty wind from the Channel sweeping across the picturesque natural amphitheatre of Watcombe Bottom, only saw Wayne Hayward seemingly opening the scoring for the visitors and Kevin Wheeler's effort was also ruled out before the break.

A raised tough flag scuppered Hayward's score as Joe Butler's foot edged into touch while Wheeler's score with the final action of the first half was unseen by the referee.

With veteran hooker Hugh Noonan suffering a back injury, his loss affected Eastleigh's shape and poise, and aided Ventnor's passage to victory.

"Losing Hugh at the interval denied us of an experienced line-out thrower and from that, we lost our shape," admitted stand-in skipper, Phil Camplin.

Skipper Callaghn Chapman posted two penalties either side of Arnie Payne's try, which came from a nasty accident involving the Ventnor captain, who was left incapacitated near his line, only for Payne to reach over and score.

Ventnor wrapped up the victory with ten minutes remaining as scrum-half Mark Rogers picked up and cut through under the posts for his second try to ensure there was no way back for Eastleigh.

"It was a poor game for us," said Eastleigh's stand-in captain, Phil Camplin.

"This young side have not come up against a pack like Ventnor's and their spoiling tactics, but we will come back better for the experience.

"Hearing the Isle of Wight result going our way was good news, because we are still promoted.

"But this has been a culture shock for us and we have learnt a lot."

Chapman was pleased that his side had almost upset the promotion party.

He said: "We kept the ball very well in the second half and played to our strengths.

"We scored a couple of very good tries and controlled the game.

"There were a few handbags later on but we should be safe now. Eastleigh came over here confident of being promoted by winning, but we have proved that we are a tougher nut to crack than that."

The Eastleigh players may have trudged off disappointed but their mood was only improved when news from New Milton filtered through, even though, after years of struggle, the new class of Bishopstoke had regained their top status.